A guardsman's life
by Cortez2000
Summary: A short story introduces an "average" day from the mission of an imperial guardsman against a Tyranid assault.


After the speech of the colonel, we all felt invincible. I've never seen a Tyranid before, but I've heard that they are some mindless, bug-dinosaur like creatures. These monsters have been a nuisance for the Imperium for decades, and even though we beat them over and over again, they keep coming back for more. Maybe they need our lasguns and tanks to remind them again. The colonel said that we have nothing to worry about if we dutifully following orders and keeping strong faith in the Emperor.

Our journey on the transport was very lively, we made jokes about how we would fry the Tyranids and put them on the imperial regular menu. The sarge told us that once we're dropped on the Lincoln II, we should imagine ourselves as Space Marines. It has always been his favorite topic: when he was a greenhorn, before he was transferred to us, his regiment, along with two others, was sent against a growing ork WAAAGH! as a pre-emptive strike. The WAAAGH! was too much for the Imperial Guard, so the Space Marines of the Imperial Fists joined the fight. With their help, our forces managed to crush the orks and a Space Marine commended the sarge's courage… at least that's what he said. I don't really think he's ever talked to one of them, he just wants to look cool in the eyes of the recruits.

" _ETA to Lincoln II: seven minutes!_ " said the speaker. " _Everyone be ready for deploy! The Emperor be with you!_ "

I push my back against the wall of an alley and press my teeth together to stop it's clashing. I have to grip my lasgun tightly to keep it in my shaking hand. By the Emperor, this place is a nightmare! I hear screaming, roaring and hissing around me and I'm very close to breaking down. I didn't expect that. Hell, nobody expected that! I participated in two battles before: I fought against heretics on Mordian and although Commissar Entrave became very paranoid about heresy for a while, it wasn't that bad. We outnumbered them five to one and quickly gunned them down. On Justice Rock, we fought the orks as well. It was a bloody fight and many people were killed by those primitive xenos, but still… it's nothing compared to this Tyranid invasion. This is not a battle, it is a slaughter! The intelligence was wrong… or they lied to us.

One of the Tyranids appears before the alley. The ugly xeno looks like a bony dinosaur-wolf with scythes as forelimbs. It suddenly turns to me, snarling and starts to run toward me. For a moment I freeze, but I get myself together to shoot at it. My first two shots miss the xeno, but the third hits its open mouth and pierces through its head. Its filthy, green blood splashes at my armor and the Tyranid drops down dead. I shoot it two more times in the head, just to be sure. I kick it, and it seems I managed to deal with the xeno. Carefully I sneak to the corner so I can see how the battle is going or if there's any way to escape. The sight is horrifying: Tyranids are everywhere! They swarmed the street and considering the blood all around the city, they most likely exterminated the citizens in the area. I bet Commissar Entrave has been already eaten by one of these monsters, along with the rest of the regiment.

I sidle back and slowly slide down to the ground. My legs just gave up, not long after my nerves. I clasp my lasgun and think about my options. The best one would be shooting myself, before the Tyranids find me. It's really more tempting than being eaten alive, but I simply don't have the strength to do so. I recall a bad joke I once overheard from the veterans: When does the heavy artillery arrive? Right after the last infantryman died.

I suddenly hear running. Something has found me. I don't know what it is, but I don't want to know either. I just hope it kills me quickly.

"Guardsman! Are you wounded?"

Shivers run down my spine. The stern voice sounds exactly like Commissar Entrave's. But how? The streets are flooded by Tyranids, there's no way he could be here.

Someone grabs my helmet and forces my head up. I'm looking right into the commissar's harsh eyes. He crouches before me, his battle-scarred face shows no fear, only suspicion and determination.

"Can you hear me, guardsman?"

"Yes… sir," I manage to reply somehow.

"Then answer my question! How seriously are you wounded?"

I look down at myself.

"I'm not wounded, sir," I mumble.

The commissar's visage darkens.

"Then why are you hiding here like a coward, instead of doing your job as an imperial guardsman and the servant of the Emperor?" This voice sounds more like his speeches.

"I…" I don't really know what I could say to that. Lord Entrave leans closer to me and digs his dark blue eyes into mine. His voice is much quieter, but much more threatening.

"Listen to me very carefully, because I'm not going to say it twice! You know what happens to cowards! It's a nightmare out there, yes, and those xenos are one of the most terrifying enemies of the Imperium. But that's not an excuse to fail your duty! We are the Imperial Guard, the Hammer of the Emperor! And this hammer will crush these monster like bugs and keep them hitting until they die or until it breaks. If you weren't be the only one who's left alive here, I would use you as an example of what happens if a guardsman fails to do what his superior commanded. Instead, I'll give you a last chance to redeem yourself in Emperor's eyes and in mine's too. Obey me without hesitation and you will not get executed. Try to run again and I blow your leg off and leave you for the Tyranids. Do you understand?"

Commissar Entrave's words sober me up. Death doesn't seem so appealing now, especially not from the hand of the commissar. This somehow makes the Tyranids less terrifying.

"Yes, sir!" I answer as resolved as I can. The commissar stands up, while pushing his fingers under my breastplate and firmly pulls me up.

"Good. We will go outside and we will feed those xeno scums with bolts and laser. We will try to find other survivors to help us or we will kill all of the Tyranids together."

"Yes sir!" I take a deep breath, grip my lasgun tighter and start to walk toward the horrors that swarm the streets. Now that they managed to break the resistance, they scattered, looking for more victims, but there are still many of them.

"If you need cover, you're allowed, unless I tell otherwise." I hear from behind. "If you have the urge of running, run… toward the Tyranids. Unless I tell otherwise. And remember…" I feel the touch of commissar's cold bolter pistol on my neck. "… I'm watching you."

"Un… understood, sir!"

"You seem tense, trooper! How about a game? We shall play my favorite game: The Body Counter. We shoot the Tyranids and count every death loudly. If you get more body than me, you earn my admission. If you get too low… that's not going to happen, is it, soldier?"

"No, sir!" I daren't mention him that a bolter pistol is more effective than a lasgun. I can already hear his answer: _"Is that so, guardsman? Let's switch our weapons then. If I get more body than you, I'm going to show how effective lasgun really is!"_

So I aim at an unsuspecting xeno – a similar one that attacked me before – and shoot. I hit it on the shoulder, but it survives, looking for its attacker. I aim at it again, but the commissar is faster and brings it down with a headshot.

"One. You have to do better than that, soldier!"

The monsters around us start to realize that they haven't finished off everyone around here and with snarling and hissing sounds, they attack us. I set my lasgun to more powerful shots. It will drain the power pack more quickly, but I take this risk to make sure that I kill the xenos and if I survive, I can take a few capacitors from the dead.

"The Emperor protects!" I mumble and aim at a slim, fast-looking Tyranid and shoot. The laser burns through its skull and immediately kills it. "One!" I shout, targeting the next. "Two!" I count as the next one dies. I hear the commissar as he also count while killing the monsters with calm, precise shots. As the beasts are closing in, we push our backs against the wall. We have no chance to escape. But with the commissar beside me, escape is not even an option. I stop focusing on every Tyranids, I only watch which the closest one is. They are fast and don't care about their losses. And they aren't dumb. A few of them running toward us, swirling unexpectedly and while I try to aim them, the others get closer. I force myself to not shoot around like crazy, I don't want to drain my power pack because of panic and I don't want to be an embarrassment at the front of Lord Entrave.

"Break out and flank them!" he shouts. I've never gotten such a joyful order before. I quickly shoot the Tyranid on my left in the throat and the commissar shoots another in the face.

I run through the gap I made, jumping over the dead xeno and trying to outmaneuver them. I shoot down the closest one while yelling "six", then get the seventh one. The next manages to evade my laser and jumps at me, pushing me on the ground. It tries to stab me, but I hit away its claw away my gun-stock. I feel burning pain on my side: my flak armor doesn't protect me there, so the beast manages to chafe me. I snarl and place my gun under its chin and pull the trigger. It yowls when I fry its brain, then collapses at me. I gather my strength and roll it off me.

"Eight, you bastard!" I scream at it and push my hand on the wound. I don't think it's dangerous, just annoying.

"Guardsman!" I hear Commissar Entrave's sharp yelling and I look up. A surviving Tyranid charges toward me. I raise my lasgun, but it falls out of my sweaty hand. Now, I'm panicking and trying to grab it, although I know it's too late. I hear a banging sound and the back of the Tyranid's head explodes. As it falls on the ground, the commissar lowers his bolter pistol. "Twelve. You should watch your surroundings too, soldier!"

"Understood, sir!" I reply relieved, then I start looking around for other lasguns. As I take out a few decently charged power packs, I notice a severed, bloody head on the ground with one eye widened in terror and I immediately recognize the sarge. I feel my distress overwhelming me again. Maybe it's just me and the commissar who are still alive, at least until the bulk of these bugs don't find us. I'm taking a few frags, when I hear Lord Entrave's yell.

"Gargoyles!"

I look at him then into the direction he's looking. A desperate expression appears on my face as I notice a distant, approaching swarm on the sky. I quickly check my lasgun's power pack: I've almost depleted it. I throw it away, reload a fresh one and take back a little from my laser's strength to save energy. The commissar points at an abandoned building.

"Take cover! If we were spotted, we're going to be less exposed inside!"

"Yes, sir!" Good idea! We can shoot down this xeno scum from the windows or the doors if they try to swarm us. The rest of my comrades should have thought about that too.

As we step through the wrecked door, we can see blood and debris inside. Maybe some of the regiment or the planetary defenders did think of taking cover here as well.

"Guardsman!" peals Lord Entrave at me all the sudden. "Do you have the insolence to step in the Emperor's face?"

"Sir?" I looking at him confused, then instinctively under my feet. I'm standing on the flag with a two headed eagle on it, which probably fell from the wall. I quickly jump off it. "Sorry, sir!"

"I couldn't care less of your apology, it is the Emperor who you ought to ask for forgiveness. War is not an excuse to disrespect mankind!"

I'm muttering a quick prayer to the Emperor to pardon my carelessness. I doubt that this would be his greatest problem, but it's embarrassing to ask him to help me through this mission, while I'm trample down the holy symbol of the Imperium. In this moment, I notice a moving lump under the flag and I immediately aim at it.

" _Probably just a rat"_ I think, but when it reaches the edge of the flag, I see it's nothing like a rat. It is somewhat bigger than a rat and it's like a moving mass with huge, sharp teeth. I shoot it down before my brain even realizes that it must be a smaller tyranid.

"What is it?" turns the commissar to me.

"I-I saw something… Tyranid-like. It… it was…" I mumble and point at the remnants of the creature. Commissar Entrave takes a look at it.

"Anklebiter."

"Sir?" The name means nothing to me. My knowledge about the Tyranids is basically that they are bug-like xenos in various size, whose only goal is to eat everything. Some jumps at people, some shoots at people, some rare ones step at people and they sometimes use lesser 'nids for weapon.

"They are Tyranid Rippers," says the commissar while he takes a look behind a reception table. "They eat every organic material, then bring it back to the hive. This is how they collect biomass and evolve to be stronger." He looks at me. "Shoot it, but don't drain your weapon! They usually come in large numbers, so save your…"

In that moment I hear a pullulating noise and see a living carpet of rippers swarming down the stairs. I suddenly realize why I didn't see any bodies here: those little bastards ate everyone in the building!

The commissar calmly takes one of my frag grenades and negligently throws it at the front of them. As the ripper move by it, it explodes.

"That's an Idunno how many hundreds of points for me. It will be hard to catch up with this, soldier!"

A light smile appears on my face, then I quickly aim at the few survivors which crawl out from the dust. I almost shoot, but I realize what the commissar said a minute ago, so I adjusting the power of my lasgun, testing which is the lowest, most effective level against them.

"It seems the gargoyles don't care about us" I hear Lord Entrave. "Well, that's too bad, because we're going to hunt them down anyway. Come on, sol…"

A quiet, banging noise interrupts the commissar. It cheers me up almost immediately as this sound is associated with the safety of heavy weapons.

"An autocannon!" I say surprised. "There are other survivors!"

"That or the Tyranids learned to use autocannons. Let's investigate!"

"With pleasure, sir!" I say elated.

We step out of the building and for a moment, I see something fall from the sky. The gargoyles seemingly chose the wrong prey. The streets are filled with the corpses of the Tyranids, imperial guard and citizens alike as well as some vehicles' wreckage. We use the latter as cover while we proceed toward the sound of promise and Lord Entrave picks up a lasgun from a dead guardsman, so he's either out of bolts or very low on them. He tells me to avoid shooting unless it's necessary, before we reach the survivors. We hear the autocannon again and it's noise helps us to find its exact position. Our path seems surprisingly free, but before I could celebrate, something zips before my face.

"Termagants!" yells Lord Entrave angrily. "We got ambushed!"

As I look up to the windows of the nearby building I am taken aback that the cursed Tyranids are hiding up there and shooting us like monstrous soldiers. The commander somehow forgot to mention that some of these beasts can actually have enough brain to use tactics. I shoot at the xenos, but my targets take cover and the rest returns fire with their strange weapons. One of them hit my flak armor and I see something for a moment, before it disappears in my armor.

"What the…" I narrow my eyes then I scream as something bites my chest. I nervously retreating and trying to take off the armor.

"Stay where you are and don't even dare throw down that armor if you know what's good for you!" shouts Lord Entrave at me. The chewing pain stops, but my chest still hurts pretty bad.

"Something went through my armor and…"

"… and since it's didn't kill you, it probably died already!" Lord Entrave shoots down a Termagant from the windows, while avoiding their shots. "Take off your armor and the next one will chew through your heart!"

Although I can feel the whatever ammunition under my armor, I obey and take up the fight again with the Tyranids. The commissar urges me to keep them busy, so we can go through, so I shoot at them, while sidling through the ambush spot. After that, we start running, hoping that no more Termagants will surprise us again.

"Damnable, xeno scum!" I hiss painfully. "Commissar… shouldn't we take this thing out?"

"We have no time to seal the wound and while it's there, you won't bleed to death."

"But… aren't these things poisonous?" I ask concerned.

"This is going to be your slightest problem if you keep whining!"

I take this as a no after a few minutes without weakness, dizziness or any poison-like effects. I almost forget my pain as we reach a street full of dead Tyranids around a team. There are three of them: one holds the autocannon, another the ammunition and the third one stands with a plasma gun in his hand. As I see, they are members of the planetary defense.

"Don't shoot, guardsmen!" shouts Lord Entrave, just in time when they aim at us.

"Thank the Emperor!" sighs the autocannon handler relieved. "I thought we're the only ones who managed to stay alive."

"Report!"

"We're trying to push forward, commissar," says the man with the plasma gun. "The Tyranids have marched toward the governor's palace en masse and they may have already broken through. If… if the palace falls…"

"Listen to me carefully! The Tyranids are controlled by the Hive Mind psychically. But to maintain control, it needs synapse creatures. No doubt, a powerful synapse creature led them against the palace. If we can kill it, we'll cut the psychic link and the Tyranids will go feral.

"All of them?" asks surprised and hopeful the third soldier, who sounds like a woman.

"There can be more on the planet, but one must have the palace's attackers under its control," replies Lord Entrave. "I need you," he points at the plasma gun wielder "and you," he turns to me. "Your job is to lure away the bulk if not all of the Tyranids under its control by any means, so I'll be able to find and slay the beast.

I gulp. This is an outright suicide mission. The other guardsman probably thinks the same, as I see on his face. Commissar Entrave has a rather terrifying reputation and I don't know how much can be true about it. I've heard he sometimes shoots one of the new recruits, just to remind the rest of them what happens if they fail in any way. I've never seen him doing this, but during his edginess over heresy I saw him looking at a guardsman and executing him without saying a word. He also shot another soldier who asked again when he gave an order.

" _Only the awkward questions. Only the foolish asks twice."_ So, whenever he asked us if we understand, the only answer was: Yes, sir!

"Do you understand?" I hear his voice.

"Yes, sir!" I reply without thinking.

"Good! Let's go then! You two" he turns to the autocannon team, "carefully advance toward the palace as assistance!"

"Sir" An idea sparks in my mind. ", maybe we can lure them toward the autocannon. If they reside in one of the abandoned buildings, they will get clear sight on the Tyranids. If we lure them into its range, they have to pursue it for at least a mile. If they can fortify their position, this diversion can provide much more time… sir."

Lord Entrave narrows his eyes.

"I had similar plans, but considering that the creature is probably very big and very tough, I might need the autocannon's help, which is impossible if they get overran. However, you two probably die too quickly without support, which would be a waste. Very well. Keep them busy as long as you're able! But I need the plasma gun!" The commissar holds out his hand and the guardsman reluctantly hands over his weapon. As I see, he's half expecting Lord Entrave to give him his bolter pistol, but he must err. "Find a replacement, soldier!"

"Yes, sir!"

We start moving toward the palace. It's not really hard to find a lasgun, since hundreds of guardsmen lie dead on the streets. I feel uneasy as we're getting closer. My superiors have told many times that a guardsman life is to die, but I was never before given a direct suicide order. Going around with Commissar Entrave to kill Tyranids is one thing; urge them to swarm us is another.

"This seems a good place for setting up an ambush," says Lord Entrave when we reach a relatively tall building. We quickly move in, looking for any Tyranids that might be lurking here, but the buildings seems completely abandoned, and although there are blood traces on the wall, we don't encounter with any of those Anklebiters. The top floor gives a rather good range, although it isn't perfect, because of some taller houses in the way. I can see the palace and the sight is horrifying: a mass of xenos all around the city are closing in around it, as if some invisible will would drive them. As the commissar described, it is indeed an invisible will. I have no idea how we could stop them without dying instantly.

The heavy weapons team quickly set up their autocannon on a broken window.

"Can you shoot them from here?" asks Lord Entrave with lots of doubt.

"They must be drawn closer at least by two hundred yards. They're too far and some of the buildings block proper sight. Should we go closer, sir?"

"Negative, we don't have more time to waste for better location," replies the commissar. "This place is remote enough to prevent the Tyranids from returning fire and tall enough to boost the autocannon's range." He turns to me and the other soldier. "You only need to survive those two hundred yards. The heavy weapons team takes care of the rest."

"Yes, sir!"

We quickly go down the steps and in a fast, but not exhausting pace start to run toward the palace. We don't encounter any Tyranids on the way, other than a few rippers, but on the commissar's command, we ignored them. Sometimes, my chest wound aches and every time I have the fear that the creature starts chewing itself inside me again. I'd be glad for a minute of rest, so I could take it out, although I doubt it matters now. I'm dead man anyway.

When we reach the palace of the governor, it's already under heavy siege by Tyranids of all size, yet somehow they still haven't managed to break in. A moment of inspection answers why: beneath the flood of the xenos, wrecked war machines lie and a battle tank at the front of the gate still holds itself. Its cannon already have been torn down and its remaining heavy bolters desperately shoot the tide. The palace's defenses as well as some guardsman in the windows and battlements shoot the invaders constantly, but they obviously can't hold much longer. This quest is lost, even if we lure the Tyranids from here, the autocannon will not stop this swarm. However, the commissar said we must provide time for him to track down the leader of these beasts. I would shoot it down myself, but I can't tell which one of these controls them. Maybe it stays away from the battlefield to avoid losing hold too quickly, but lurks nearby. At least, that's what humans would do.

"This is it" says Lord Entrave. I can't see any expression on his face, neither fear, nor despair. "Bring them to the heavy weapons team, as close as you can! If you are to die today, know that your death will save this planet! Make the Emperor proud!"

"Sir," I nervously gulp "how can we get their attention? They're probably not even going to notice our lasguns. Maybe… we should bring the autocannon closer."

"See those beasts?" The commissar ignores my suggestion and points at a somewhat humanoid monster that stays behind and shoots at the defenders from a safe distance. "They also have their synapse range, used for coordinating their minions. If you attack them, they will be cornered, so their only choice will be to attack you or fall back toward the palace, which they probably not going to do. You can ignore the biggest Tyranids, your lasguns are probably barely able to scratch them. That's all you need to know!"

"Yes, sir!" we answer.

"If you plan to run away, best to know that the Tyranids will find you too once the planet fell. Or if they don't, I'll certainly will. So, be smart and if you must die, die for the Emperor!"

"Yes, sir!"

Commissar Entrave sends us a final glance, then starts running toward the flank of the assaulting Tyranids. I suddenly feel concerned and relieved at the same time; a mixed feeling of leaving a good commissar's company.

"This is crazy!" turns my fellow soldier to me after Lord Entrave is out of sight. "How can we even hope to do something about this mass? They kill us in a second if they notice us!"

"We must stay away from their range…" I reply and we're both shaken as the last Leman Russ tank blows up under the assault of the xenos. "And run when we got their attention."

We're taking cover near a ruined building, turning our weapons to maximum strength, and start shooting at the swarm. Focus fire was the first thing we were trained to do, due to the usually lack of power the lasguns provide. The sub-commander angrily hisses as we're shooting at it and tries to move away while blindly shooting toward us. One shot hits the ground some feet away and explode, splashing acid everywhere. I pull away my head from a drop just in time, so it hits the wall instead and starts to burn it through.

"Emperor, protect us!" My partner looks at the hole horrified.

"You have any grenades?" I ask him.

"Only one."

I take one of the two remaining frags I have.

"Throw it at 'em! We need to get their attention by eliminating these abominations."

He seemingly hasn't got any better idea, so he takes his grenade and throws it in the middle of the tyranid mass where our target stands. The explosion throws away at least a dozen of xenos. The sub-commander survives, although the grenade severely wounded it, at least its green blood decently covers it. We use its stupor to finish it off fast and give a silent cheer as it falls to the ground. I also throw a frag on another beast and we bring it down with the similar tactic as well. However, I have only one grenade left and we can't defeat these monsters without heavier weapons. Suddenly, some of the besiegers realize the threat we pose and they charge at us.

"We've done it!" says my comrade, but I stop him before he could run.

"No, these are just annoyances. We have to lure the majority of them from the palace!"

I shoot at them, just as we did with the commissar: calm and precise. I've almost completely accepted death and if we succeed, at least Lord Entrave will know who helped him. We shoot down some of the faster beasts, then the cursed termagants as well. Luckily, our lasguns have a better range than the termagant weapons. If only I'd have a squad, we wouldn't lack proper firepower.

After we killed these xenos, we search for a sub-commander that preferably cannot shoot back at us. Even an inaccurate shot of them can melt us both. I take aim at a creature that's more of less unaware, but before I could pull the trigger, its brain just pops out and it falls. The shot didn't come from the palace and as I look around behind me, I can't see anybody. Is there a hidden sniper somewhere?

Another similar looking beast drops dead by this mysterious sniper and I notice something: the Tyranids have become somewhat less coordinated, their attacks seems more individual. Maybe we won't have to lure them away; if we can kill enough of them, the palace defenders will be able to deal with their dropping focus.

The naïve hope diminishes as the Tyranids realize we're after their elite. They slowly stop the assault and turn their attention toward us. I turn to my companion.

"Run!" Then I show myself to the xenos, shoot at them randomly, and start to run as well. If they don't pursue us, we may able to take out a few more, but of course, they probably expect that. Better to kill us, then quickly resume the attack. I know we cannot outrun them for long, but there is a chance to take advantage on their regroup, as the faster ones stood closer to the palace and the streets aren't wide enough to quickly get around the slower ones. Something buzzes away near my ear and soon I notice projectiles all around us. My partner turns his gun and blindly returns fire on the Tyranids. I hear their inhuman screams as the laser hits them, yet it doesn't ease my concern. These are not lucky shots, the swarm of the xenos are so thick that it is impossible to miss. I do the same, but I can only hope that I hit one of them and the rest will tumble over it. But I know this is slim even for a hope.

An acidic shot splashes before us and we quickly by-pass it. I really don't want the next to hit me, nor something else. I wish I could imagine myself as Space Marine, just as the sarge told us, but I can't help feeling like a lowly guardsman who runs for his life. I notice a tight alley before us and I have an idea. It might be an insane plan, but from the sounds behind, I'm a dead man either way.

Something hits my companion and he falls over. He must have died immediately, I can't hear his scream even after a few seconds. I turn toward the alley and I suddenly feel a hit on my shoulder and the back of my helmet. I still didn't forget the shock of the first Termagant hit, so I quickly tear off the helmet and throw it behind. Luckily, I don't feel pain on my shoulder, the shot must have only scratched my armor. I constrict myself as I can when I reach the alley and quickly throw my last grenade behind me. I hear the explosion along with the walls' crumble, but I don't dare to turn around to see how it slowed down the Tyranids. Instead I shoot behind where I hear the closest monsters as they have a considerably bigger chance here to slow down the pursuers if they fall. I pray to the Emperor in myself to not run into any xenos or they don't corner me from the other entrances of the alley. I silently thank Him when I finally reach the end of the lane and squeeze out all the strength I have left to increase my speed.

Suddenly I hear the drumming sound of the autocannon and the Tyranids' scream behind me. I notice a shadow beneath my feet and when I look up, I see one of huge beasts, ready to land at me with its scythe claws. Before I could even get scared though, the autocannon's bullets hit it and push it back. I accidentally follow its fall and to my horror, I see hundreds or perhaps thousands of Tyranids behind me, only about fifty feet away and they're closing in fast. The fear of death grips me again and I start looking for opportunity to save my life. I turn toward the closest open building to seek shelter while preparing my lasgun for overheat. The sergeant showed this trick to us to use as a last resort, turning the weapon into a grenade.

Just before I could enter the building, I feel a strong, piercing pain as something bed in my shoulder blade. My left arm suddenly becomes very heavy, but I manage to steel myself and overload my lasgun. I feel its gentle shake and the loudening noise it makes, so I start counting back. I take three steps at a time as I'm running upstairs, praying to not slide back. A wrong step and I'll get torn apart by these cursed xenos. The lasgun's vibration becomes stronger and when I turn to the next stairs, I quickly put it down of the middle of it, before continuing my fleeing. A few seconds later my gun blows up with a deafening noise, shaking the stairway around me. As I take a brief look, I see that three of the beasts managed to get through before the explosion and since I have no weapon left, my chances for survival slipped away.

For a blink of an eye, I see a hand throwing something toward me from the ruined window and from it's position, this person must be hanging upside down. It's not fast and seemingly it wasn't meant to me, so I can easily dodge. In the next moment, blue light flashes and a mighty force pushes me against the wall. The collision squeezes all air from my lungs and I can barely turn away to save my nose. I slip on my knees and take a deep breath then I turn around quickly. To my surprise, all three Tyranids melted into a puddle in a bluish area of half-melted stone. A plasma grenade? To my knowledge, the Imperium doesn't use plasma grenades, only…

I recall the mysterious sniper and the strangely acrobatic figure that threw the grenade. What could _they_ be doing here?

I force myself to stand up and slowly move toward the lower floor. As I look down, I see the Tyranids growling at the stairs. The bigger ones don't fit in the building and the smaller ones aren't capable to jump through the gap I made. I wearily lean against the wall. I bought all the time I could for Lord Entrave. Now that I have some breather, I take a look at the thing that hit me before entering the building. Some bone-like shard sticks out of my shoulder-blade. I reach back with my right to remove it, but I cry out in pain as I attempt to pull it out. That damned thing must have smaller hooks on it or something. I snort with frustration and sit down on the steps, listening the autocannon's drumming sound. After about half a minute, it stops and a bitter expression appears on my face. Well, commissar, we did what we could.

I feel minor shaking and distant rumbling. I can only hope it's not the palace as it's falling apart. A few moments later I hear slashing, shooting and inhuman screams below me. I force myself on my feet to see what's happened and very carefully spy on them. They turned crazy and started to attack each other. My first thought is that they lost patience on hunting me, but then I recall what the commissar said about their synapse. Have we won? Did Lord Entrave manage to destroy their leader? I have my doubts about this victory after all the suffering we went through only to stay alive.

Suddenly, the building shakes and I hear a deep growling. A huge scythe-claw breaks through the ground and tears a breach in it. I step back from it with widened eyes. The sounds of wild slashes can be heard and in the next moment, a huge Tyranid head breaks to my floor. I'm looking for escape, but the only way out is the window, which is risky, considering that I'm on the third floor. Still, it is a better chance for survival than staying with this huge monstrosity. I step to the window and look down. I feel like as I would have the commissar's gun at the back of my head, urging me to jump, instead of staying and hope for not getting noticed. Then the Tyranid turns to me which decides the dilemma. This building lacks any kind of balcony to stand, making my escape even harder, but I attempt to climb out and land on the lower window, although some of the surviving Tyranids may shoot me down if they see me. No matter, I don't have much choice. I grab the edge of the window, but when I try to descend, I feel a sharp, piercing pain from the wound on my shoulder and I lose hold. I fall on the lower window's verge and almost immediately lose my balance, falling down again. When I reach the ground, I groan from the pain in my leg and I end up on my back, luckily avoiding pressing the shard deeper. I quickly stand up, but judging of the pain in my right leg, it's injured, although I think my bone didn't break. I do my best to limp away from the building and reach a safe… or a safer place.

I hear crashes behind me as the giant Tyranid tears apart the building in its way. I look back and I can see that I'm out of luck now. This monstrosity is at least twenty-three feet tall with six scythes as limbs and sneak-like body. It has noticed me and slides closer. I'm not attempting to run anymore, even with full strength I couldn't hope to outrun this beast.

Suddenly, something hits the monster with a power and noise shakes my whole skull. I press my hand on my hissing ears and looking at the Tyranid. It's covered in blood and got shocked from the hit. Judging from area around it, the shot must have come from an Earthshaker Cannon. The xeno's angrily looking for its attackers and a few seconds later, another shot hits it and rips the monster apart. A Basilisk? I notice movement on the sky and when I look up, I see two Marauder Bombers fly through above me. It seems like the cavalry finally arrived. Good timing…

I start staggering toward the palace, weakened by my wounds and the loss of blood. The whole city is wrecked and the streets are full of the bodies of guardsmen, Tyranids and civilians. It feels like another lifetime since we were deployed, even though it was possibly, what, six hours ago? As I reminiscence the speech of the colonel about how we will simply sweep the Tyranids from the planet, I don't feel anger or resentment. Would it have been better if the colonel tells us what kind of killing machines the Tyranids really are? The outcome would have been even worse due to the lack of moral and the Lincoln II would have been taken by the xenos.

The palace appears at my sight. It suffered badly from the assault, the Tyranids carved it up seriously, but its gate could hold. I see some of the survived defenders among the battlements. I'm too tired to shout and ask where Commissar Entrave is and they probably feel the same way about addressing me. So, I start walking toward the direction I last saw him. It's a surprise that my legs are still able to move, considering my exhaustion. They automatically keep going on, although their destination is uncertain. I'm walking around the palace, while I keep losing track of my surrounding, just wandering like a restless dead.

I hear a dull, cracking sound behind me, as if someone had stepped on a piece of debris. That quickly drags me back to reality. I turn around and I notice Commissar Entrave stumbling toward me, in an even worse shape than I am. His right arm has been ripped off; he presses his hand around his upper arm to stop the bleeding. There is a wound on his face, caused by probably acid and it cost his eye. I can't see how many serious injuries he suffered as his uniform is covered with blood and it's hard to know his if it's his own blood or someone else's. He is very pale, yet somehow shock and blood loss was unable to overcome him.

"You?" he's looking at me with surprise. I can barely hear him due to my ringing ears, but his voice sounds weaker and painful, yet still demanding. "Your job was to lure the Tyranids away. How did you survive?"

I can feel the same suspicion in his voice as he had after our battle with heretics. It is unlikely that he has the strength to execute me for cowardice, but nevertheless I summarize what happened and how I managed to save my skin.

"The biggest thing a guardsman can hope for is to die for a noble and important cause," says Lord Entrave after I finished. "I'm not blaming you for that, considering you have done your job. I think your death would have caused lesser distraction than their attempt to reach you. The Emperor has plans for you yet."

I recall my mysterious helps. I told about them to the commissar, yet he didn't act suspicious or curious.

"Commissar… could it be possible that eldar are lurking here? They…"

"Don't trouble yourself with the eldar! Nor your fellow guardsmen! Enjoy the victory instead, it was a hard mission!"

" _He knows about them as well!_ " I realize. Everyone knows that there are secrets the commanding office doesn't share with us, grunts – like more information about the Tyranids – and it seems the eldar on Lincoln II are classified among them as well.

"How many Tyranids did you kill?"

I'm surprised by the question. Who had the time to count? Then I remember the "game" the Lord Entrave announced when we started to hunt the Tyranids.

"I'm not sure, sir. Maybe… thirty or forty."

"Well done, soldier…" he stops and takes a deep breath. I can tell it is very hard for him to pretend that his wounds are nothing. "For your achievement this day I will overlook your earlier cowardice. You found your courage by luring the Tyranids away from the palace. Never let it falter again, do you understand?

"Yes, sir!"

"I promote you to sergeant for the feat you showed here. Your battle against the Tyranids granted you a great deal of experience that you can share with your new squad, however better watch out what you say. Causing panic by boasting or exaggerating is not tolerated.

"Uhm… I understand, sir. Thank you!" I'm quite surprised that I've become a sergeant. I still feel like a private. A dead private.

"Let us find a medic before we bleed to death." Lord Entrave starts moving toward the palace. I follow him with mixed feelings.

"The heavy armor company took its time" I mutter, but seemingly too loudly as the commissar replies.

"They were assigned against the more dangerous Tyranids. You saw the huge beasts at the gates. If hundreds of them had swarmed the palace, the rest of the planet would have stayed defenseless by now. What we faced was merely the few that managed to slip through the our perimeter with their leader to cut the throat of their enemy. The same we did."

This isn't comforting at all. I don't think I want to ever face these monsters again. I'm doing my best to steel myself, although I'm too tired to be as terrified as I should be.

I notice that the commissar looks at me with investigative look in his remaining eye.

"Do not bear false hope, sergeant! You survived this day. You may die on the next. Or on the one after that. You can only choose how you wish to die: in glorious battle for the Emperor and the Imperium or on the firing line as an example for cowards. Each way, your death will serve a purpose. I advice you the former, it is more honorable. You have to embrace death, greet it without fear, leaving it to trouble only your enemies."

"… yes… sir."

"It is something most of the Imperial Guard mastering during their whole life. And the first thing every commissar has to learn. Once you accept this, you shall realize why the Imperium's finest are feared by enemies and allies alike."

I look at Lord Entrave and I realize he's right. He demands nothing more than what he also does in the service of the Imperium.

"A guardsman's life is to die!" I reply with bitter resignation.

"Well said, soldier!" The commissar's mouth twitches for a blink-long smile, although I may just imagine it from the blood loss and the exhaustion. "That's a start."


End file.
